What Is Legionnaires?
4. Transmission
Some people will catch legionnaire’s disease after inhaling the bacterium from contaminated soil. It can also happen by way of aspiration, which means contaminated liquid is accidently inhaled into the lungs. The majority of the time, however, the bacterium is inhaled in contaminated water.
This can mean inhaling water droplets from showers, whirlpools, air conditioning units, fountains, and swimming pools. As mentioned, this can happen at home, but it is far more likely to happen with a larger system. The most common source of outbreaks of the disease are from industrial cooling towers. Contaminated droplets from these towers can spread over long distances, potentially infecting people kilometers away.
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